A Quick Rundown on Some Miami Acts Playing at SXSW

A few Miami acts are playing official (and semi-official) showcases at SXSW in Austin in a couple weeks. If you're lucky enough to make it over to Texas for this, here's who they are and where you can catch them.

Nicaragua-born, Miami-rased DJ Craze has had as many lives as a proverbial cat. In the late '90s and early '00s, he was a champion on the battle circuit, cutting and scratching his way to three consecutive world DMC championships. At the same time, he discovered the then-burgeoning drum'n'bass scene, transferring his mixing skills to a new arena and soon dominating that, too. The new millennium sees Craze again retooling, re-examining his lifelong love of bass, with a new sound that traverses freely between electro, booty breaks, and even a dash of dubstep with gleeful abandon. His spring appearances see him promoting his new label, Slow Roast, which he's co-founded with buddy Kill the Noise.

Look past the complicated MySpace presence, deliberately goofy promo photos, and even the hair of this Miami threesome. Jacobs Ladder is not another color-by-numbers pop-punk band. Sure, in some of the tunes there are hints of that genre's penchant for choral whoa-oh-ohs and sweeping melodies made for crowd clap-alongs. How else would this band be so wildly popular on the national all-ages circuit, which it has traversed for basically the past three years? The hookiness eventually gives way to some real band-nerd weirdness. (In fact, the three formed the group in 2002, when all were rock ensemble players at Beach High.) There is interplanetary prog, astral reggae, and even a bit of vaguely jazzy noodling. Somehow it all works out into a tight, bright thing that translates into high-octane live shows sailing along on waves of good vibes.

The youngest of Bob Marley's sons, Damian "Junior Gong" Marley has always boasted a slightly harder-edged sound than his other musical siblings. Early on in his career, he was a frequent collaborator of choice for hip-hop and R&B artists. But with his 2005 album, Welcome to Jamrock, he, like his father before him, helped firmly pioneer another reggae crossover. The album's title track was beloved in hip-hop circles as much as in reggae ones, and for this, Marley scored a 2006 Grammy for Best Reggae album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance. Never resting on those laurels, though, he continued to record, and a couple years back started palling around with legendary MC Nas. Last year, they announced they were working on a joint album, Distant Relatives. It's due out this year, and in promotion, the two are touring and performing around the country together.

Only a third of this heavy music heavyweight still resides in Miami, but we're still happy to claim the band as our own. Down to a power trio since about a year ago, the band has soldiered on with frontman Steve Brooks handling sole guitar duties. It's been album two years since the release of the band's much-acclaimed sophomore album, Meanderthal. Hopefully the guys will air out some new material at SXSW and during their spring tour with Coheed and Cambria and Circa Survive.